Cranston is goint to win Emmy as producer of Breaking Bad, so there is fine way to give it both to him and McConaughey. And even though Cranston gives wonderfull performance in most impacrful episode of whole BB, McConaughey for me can win just for that monolouge at the end alone. Plus there is Oscar factor, plus his speeches where he is saluting TV and so on and this is best performance of his career and he gave chain of phenomenal performances in last few years. He aint losing this.

I can see many cases where Cranston is going to be in the top 2 on every ballot. McConaughey could be placed third or fourth under those that favor Woody Harrelson who would put him in first or second just above McConaughey. Harrelson is much more likeable. And because they put Harrelson above McConaughey I see him slipping to second because more people will out Cranston in first and McConaughey further down the ballot putting him behind.

When Cranston lost the last two times, his eppys were good, but they just had one or two impactful scenes — like the final moments of “Crawl Space.” Terrific, yes, but just a small teaspoon of what he serves up in “Ozymandias.” The latter opens up with him in the desert battling for his life, for Hank’s too. He shows his decency, offering up the millions he had buried in the soil in exchange for Hank’s life. But his amazing emotional journey doesn’t stop there. Suddenly, the monster pops out of him again as he turns on Jesse. Then he turns on his wife and kids, even grabbing his infant daughter as a hostage. But then, in the end, he gives up Holly to the firefighters and he makes that knockout phone call to his wife, which he knows is being recorded by police. In it, he gives a powerful speech asserting she’s innocent of all his evil deeds. At first, viewers don’t realize what the speech means — just sounds like he’s blasting her, but then we — and she — realize that we’re witnessing his decency shine through again and it’s one of the BIG POW MOMENTS of great theater. In this episode we see Walt’s multi-layered charater in all of its deep complexity, impressively performed by a master actor. By comparison, McConaughey’s character is a paper-thin trifle that he serves up in a bowl of corn pone.

I really don’t know what to do about this one. “Ozymandias” is Cranston’s best submission ever, no doubt about it! But, McConaughey’s been campaigning left and right, talking about how TV is no different from film now. I’m sure he’s wooed a lot of voters along the way. I have to go for MM, but I’m going to be second-guessing myself all the way to the broadcast.

By the way: this whole category is probably the best lineup in a long time.

In this episode we see Walt’s multi-layered charater in all of its deep complexity, impressively performed by a master actor. By comparison, McConaughey’s character is a paper-thin trifle that he serves up in a bowl of corn pone.

I wouldn’t characterize McConaughey’s range in “Form and Void” as a paper-thin trifle, but I do agree Cranston has more range in his submission. The finale actually makes you sympathize and root for Rust, and lets you into his head more than any other TD episode.

But then, in the end, he gives up Holly to the firefighters and he makes that knockout phone call to his wife, which he knows is being recorded by police. In it, he gives a powerful speech asserting she’s innocent of all his evil deeds. At first, viewers don’t realize what the speech means — just sounds like he’s blasting her, but then we — and she — realize that we’re witnessing his decency shine through again and it’s one of the BIG POW MOMENTS of great theater.

I know the whole McConaissance thing is happening but if we’re looking for reasoning other than just tapes, I actually think there may be some backlash with him. Some of his more esoteric speeches at these award shows could weigh against him possibly.

And the fact that his Rust Cohle is not entirely likable won’t help either. I know people like James Gandolfini and, of course, Bryan Cranston have won this award for playing bad guys, but there’s at least some humanity there and you root for them even when you know you shouldn’t. I think that hurts McConaughey because it may be hard to identify with him. That’s why I think even though Walter White became more monstrous than ever, he still has that shred of relatability to him.

I liked what you guys have been saying about number 2 votes but I completly disagree in McConaughey getting no. 2 votes because as Tom even said himself some people do not like the McConaughey performance and I do not see how anyone does not like Cranston’s performance and will rank it lower then 2. Emmy voters have shown they do not go for oscar winners in the drama races look at Spacey last year who was on the hot new Netflix show and has 2 OSCARS. McConaughey is one the HBO show and has 1 OSCAR so they really go for oscar winners in miniseries/tv movie. Cranston to me seems unbeatable.

And Heisenberg is likable? Dont get me wrong, BB is my favourite show on TV ever, but if you are going to give to more likable character how is Cranston in full Heisenberg animal mode likable and Rust is not?

I don’t personally find Walter White likable but there are plenty of people that still did right up to the end of Breaking Bad. I just think Rust Cohle may be a little too esoteric or unrelatable for voters to really connect with.

I’m British and I had to look up Tom’s mention of “corn pone”. I take this to mean Tom that you suffer from some regional bigotry vis a vis Southern Americans? Don’t quite understand this. I know a British critic (I guess you are a critic) wouldn’t dare criticise a film about Northern characters (I suppose our equivalent of Southern Americans) because they are lacking in the sophistication of Londoners and don’t speak in cut-glass tones.

You do know that, to British ears, Americans from California also have accents (flat, monotonous ones). All Americans have accents so I don’t understand your carping on McConaughey’s. To British ears at least, his voice is extraordinary: a rich baritone with a wide range of inflection, much more seductive than the voice of most American actors (who tend to be interchangeably non-descript for me). His voice is so distinctive and reminds me a bit of Robert Mitchum.